Griff Witte in Jerusalem
March 8, 2008
ANGUISH in Jerusalem. Celebration in Gaza and among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. These images - both in reaction to the gun massacre of eight Jewish students in Jerusalem - tell the story of shattered hope.
It was the deadliest attack in Israel in nearly two years, and the Islamic movement Hamas praised it as "heroic" and a "natural response to Israeli crimes in Gaza", but stopped short of claiming responsibility.
Police said Alaa Abu Dheim, a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem who was once a driver for the seminary, had slipped inside with an AK-47 assault rifle and a pistol hidden in a box and started shooting.
In Hamas-ruled Gaza, thousands of Palestinians poured on to streets to celebrate, firing shots in the air. A loudspeaker in Gaza City echoed the Hamas message: "This is God's vengeance."
But in Jerusalem, Mark Regev, spokesman for the Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, said: "Tonight's massacre is a defining moment. The people celebrating have exposed themselves for what they really are: hateful extremists."
It puts further strain on the faltering US-backed peace process, days after more than 120 Palestinians were killed during an Israeli offensive in Gaza. The UN Security Council failed to agree on a condemnation of the Jerusalem attack, as Israel and Libya accused each other of terrorism. Libya did not want to "condemn this act by itself", said the US ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad.
"Unfortunately this is what happens when the Security Council is infiltrated by terrorists," said the Israeli ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman. Libya's deputy UN representative, Ibrahim al-Dabbashi, retorted: "We don't need a certificate of good conduct from the Israeli terrorist regime or its representative here."
The Washington Post,Los Angeles Times
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/03/ ... 65631.html
